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"The dedication of CASA volunteers allows judges to ensure successful outcomes for children. For that, every family court judge I know is grateful," Hon. Ernestine Gray, New Orleans, LA
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Jessica's Story
My own kids will not repeat my story. They will never be awakened in the middle of the night by their mom, high as a kite and screaming. They won’t hear the sirens getting closer or go to sleep in standard-issue sweats on a cot in a children’s shelter with no familiar faces, no stuffed animals, nothing from home but a hairbrush. They will never be separated and moved from placement to placement, school to school. I broke the cycle of poverty and addiction that was my mother’s legacy. But I didn’t do it alone. My CASA volunteer, Mary Ann Manning, was my advocate, my champion, my role model and my friend. I was 16 and already had a baby, Jasmine, when Mary Ann first called. I told her “thanks, but no thanks.” My life was already full of concerned adults—a therapist, a social worker, a public health nurse—and I didn’t think I needed another. Mary Ann talked me into meeting for lunch anyway. And that’s when she started to put the world back on its axis for me. From that day, she listened to me, and she showed me that she cared. She showed me a world that I didn’t know existed. She took me to restaurants and coached me in social etiquette. She taught me—and my boyfriend, Joe—how to care for our baby. When I decided to move back in with my mom Mary Ann reached out to her, too. It wasn’t a perfect home, but Mary Ann trusted me enough to let me make that important decision and she went to bat for me, recommending to the court that I be allowed to stay. She knew that Jasmine and I would be okay there. And we were.
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I don’t remember going to school before I was 9. My mom was an addict, and getting her next fix took priority over getting her five kids to school. But I made up for lost time when I became a foster child; now I lie awake at night remembering the schools I went to during my decade in the system—I lose count at around 23.